How many CPD hours do I need per year?
Short answer
There is no universal figure — each professional body sets its own. Common annual requirements fall between 20 and 50 hours, with some bodies requiring a minimum share to be structured or verifiable. Because these figures are revised periodically, confirm your current requirement directly with your own regulator.
Requirements vary by profession, by seniority and sometimes by scope of practice, so a colleague in a neighbouring field is not a reliable guide. Part-time registrants often have a pro-rata requirement, and some bodies operate multi-year cycles rather than annual ones.
Two practical points. First, a shortfall is easier to prevent than to fix, because good accredited provision books up. Second, keep the record as you go: bodies that audit ask for the evidence, not the total.